In the next installment of KGB Red Room’s literary salon, join writer Tony Perrottet in conversation Adam Valen Levinson, author of the recently-published travel memoir The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East and founder of the Global Humor Project, which explores how cultures can connect through laughter.

Armed only with college Arabic, restless curiosity and a sense of humor honed by (amongst other things) a stint at The Onion, Levinson set out to explore the Muslim-majority countries that Americans fear the most, from Syria to Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen, to find scenes you won’t see on CNN or the evening news. How different are these countries from their reputations? What are their citizens’ favorite jokes? Is there hope for mutual understanding between East and West starting with a shared sense of comedy?